Are you paying attention when you scroll online? In episode 176 of Overthink, Ellie and David draw your attention to attention. They explain why attention is so hard to define and debate the extent to which it should be equated with consciousness. Is attention the same thing as consciousness? Or are there important differences between these concepts? They consider different ways that attention has been classified, from “overt vs. covert” to “effortful vs. effortless” to “voluntary vs. involuntary.” Ellie and David then discuss the commodification of attention and how it has been intensified by the digital era, or what Chris Hayes calls “the age of attention.” How has social media changed the way we attend to the world, to ourselves, and to others? Is our attention still our own? Or has it become alienated? In the Substack Bonus Segment, Ellie and David talk about Simone Weil’s and Iris Murdoch’s ethical approaches to attention.
Works Discussed:
Jelle Bruineberg, “Rethinking the cognitive foundations of the attention economy”
Chris Hayes, The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource
William James, The Principles of Psychology
Carlos Montemayor and Harry Haroutioun Haladjian, Consciousness, Attention, and Conscious Attention
The Friends of Attention, Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement
Highlight: Spontaneous thinking
Spontaneous thinking refers to what happens in your mind when you are just existing, not performing any particular task. This activates the default mode network in your brain, and you engage in many spontaneous thoughts; you are remembering things, thinking about your values, daydreaming, etc.
There is existential and cognitive value to spontaneous thinking, and it is important in consolidating a sense of self.
The attention economy, by constantly grabbing our attention, stops us from spending valuable time with ourselves. Doomscrolling doesn’t just waste time that we could have spent doing something, but also time where we could have done nothing.
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